fiberglass skins

[lloyd]

A question about re-skinning the sides of a MCI 5 that has a raised roof. I was checking with a local fiberglass shop about making a sheet of fiberglass that I can put on when raising the roof. He said he can make that, it is just a matter of what thickness it should be? Has anyone done this and if so what was the thickness of the fiberglass?
LLoyd

[prevost82]

Lloyd .. I use Kemlite filon G111

http://www.kemlite.com/filon_frp/GIII.cfm

It was half the price, of a 1/8 thick fiberglass side made local

get the .100 thickness and you can get sizes up to 108" x 700' lg, so you can use 1 pc sides then cut the windows in.

[kysteve]

Ron,

     Ive been trying to get some info on the filon from that website for about 3 months now.  Do you know where I can buy it in a length of 100 feet by the 108??  Ive sent them several emails to no avail. I just figure I'm wanting a small quantity compared to what they produce.  If you put it on your bus?, how do you like it?, and How flexible is it??  Ive been waiting on a sample of it also, but I am pretty sure I'm not going to see it.  I had eagle send me a sample of theirs and its to grainy to accept paint the way I want it to.  I think there needs to be gel coat on the outside layer to take paint (hard to explain in writing)  Any info on this would be appreciated.   Thanks Steve

[busguy01]

I bugged them (filon) until I got to talk to someone. Minimum is 250' X 8' at ab per sq ft. Now looking at different way to go. Any other ideas??
JimH

[Stan]

I don't know anything about the brand name Filon, but it appears to be the common fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP). The companies that repair semi trailers use this as lining in reefers. Several years ago I bought two roll ends (each over 40') at a bargain price from a Fruhauf repair shop.

[belfert]

One would think that most RV shops have or could get rolls of Filon as that is what most fiberglass sided RVs are made of.  I know I have seen rolls of this at RV surplus places.

[niles500]

Ky - ask the distributor for their largest customer local to you and make them a deal on what you need - You might get a deal like stan's - HTH

[prevost82]

They gave me a dealer in my area and you would have to do the same, you can't buy from Kemlite. I bought a pc that was 108" x 40' lg. for around $700

[kysteve]

good and bad news Guys,

     I got a hold of the plant by phone and they gave me a distributors number in Georgia.   "Allright" is the name of the distributor and the number is 800-642-9988.  The good news is there is no minimum order the bad news is the price of 67.86 per liner foot.  That is 2,714.40 for 40 feet.  I estimate I need 100 feet thats over 7 thousand dollars with shipping and thats just more than my tight a** wants to spend on siding (unless it was stainless that is) that has yet to be painted.  They are sending me out a sample tomorrow And  I will let you know the outcome.  Thanks Steve

[prevost82]

Something is wrong with that price ... like I said I paid around 2 buck a sq ft. I cut it in half one half for each side of the bus. Why do you need 100 ft long x 9 ft wide?

[kysteve]

Ron,

    I need to reskin my eagle from top to bottom and from front to back.  I framed in 4 slideouts and need to cover the side walls of those too.  100 feet is really lite on what I need as I would like to use it as a backer for my mirror finish stainless on the area below the floor line too.  But rest assured, I didn't order it today.  I'm doing my homework now as I'm sure there is a better (cheaper) way.  I'm still searching now.

Thanks Steve

[NJT 5573]

I think Stan is right, go to Fruehauf Trailer. Its wavy on one side and smooth on the other side (last sheet I used). Used to line the inside of reefer trailers. Comes in sheets and rolls, depending on width. Fiberglass sheets are available at Fruehauf also.

[mikeH8H-649]

Contact Bruce at Diamond State Coach, he is a dealer for Kemlite/ Filon products. We just did an mc9 from the top of the bay doors to the roof in 1 piece. 302-856-2636

[rayshound]

I bought 4 forty two foot rolls of fiberglass appears to be about the thickness of the caps or maybe a little thinner. I'm reskinning with 18 ga metal for strength then sikaflex the skin on the metal. I will follow R&M's video tape to install the skin from bottom of windows to the top of cargo bays. What I'm doing different , instead of smooth metal from roof gutter down to bottom of windows, I have the metal for strength and will glue fiberglass over metal. R&M has the fiberglass rolls in 40 ft lengths. I had them make 4 rolls at 42 ft because I extended my mci8 one and a half ft to allow for the series 60. I also purchased R&M's caps, fenders & smooth skin kit for the cargo bay doors & E4500  front. Nice stuff.   Ray

[Stan]

Another place to research is the dairy farm suppliers. In our area, the dairy farmers line their millking parlors and milk house with FRP. It looks like gelcoat fibreglass but the material they use comes in 4' x 8' sheets and is installed with splice strips. Whoever is supplying it might be able to supply it in continuous length.

Like most things, if you want to get a really good price, you have to find some that the owner wants to get rid of. Of coarse, this means that you have to be more flexible and can't go shopping with a rigid specification.